Trust Fall
by BaSingTei
Summary: An accidental reveal leaves Ladybug and Chat Noir reevaluating their relationship as crime fighters and as friends. Trust and friendships could be broken over lies and misdirections that ensue. Will they be together forever or just until Paris no longer needs saving?


Although Marinette was quite academic in her terminale year, she had always hated anything beyond basic algebra. And honestly, terminale AP statistics was about boring as boring could get. She knew it would look good on a transcript if she aced it, but just trying to pass had proved as difficult as not passing out from lack of interest.

She looked down at her notebook that she was supposed to be taking notes on, covered in sketches of new dress ideas and a few green eyes. Some of those eyes were surrounded in black, although to her they were the same eyes. Looking at her sketches she sighed and rested her cheek in her hand glancing out the window.

She had had suspicions for almost a year that Adrien was Chat Noir but there was no way to prove it. The more she compared the two of them, the more crazy she seemed. Like she wanted it to be true so badly that it was becoming a self fulfilling prophecy. Any time he would make a joke or a crooked smile, alarms would go off in her head that it was something Chat would do.

That being said, partially believing that the two were in fact the same person made her calm and more friendly towards Adrien and not so nervous. Chat had been asking her questions about her real life lately and she had been as vague as possible. "Pinks and reds are nice but all colors are good" or "All my classes are really hard so it's hard to have a favorite" or even "I am drawn more to coffee than I am food, but there are some sweets I can't resist". It was literal cat and mouse. Chat and Bug. One night he asked her why she had never been curious about him.

 _"Because I'm scared of who I am under this mask. What if I know you? What if you know me? Wouldn't that feel... weird?"_

 _"No. I would be more secure actually." He had said softly, with a sort of genuine openness she hadn't heard from him in a while. "I would be comforted that the person I love is already in my life."_

 _She blushed but looked away._

 _"I'm a different person. I'm not like this... I have a whole life outside of this. I even like someone."_

 _His ears perked up._

 _"You do?" He asked, curious but also hurt._

 _"Yeah." She sighed. "I've known him for a while but I don't think he notices me at all, not more than a friend anyway."_

 _"How could a guy not notice someone as wonderful as you, my lady?" He asked, unaware of the irony. She scoffed._

 _"Because he's a handsome blond model who has about a million other choices."_

 _There was a stiff silence between them and neither knew what to say. Marinette was feeling uncomfortable using Chat as a diary and Chat was trying to calculate how many blond models besides himself there were in Paris. The answer was quite a few. To clear the unsettle air between them she changed the subject and they went back to rounds._

She lowered her pencil back down to her notebook and added a beautiful lace trim to the sweetheart neckline of the dress, trying to shake the whole situation from her mind and get back to statistics. Both things mad her want to gag, one of disgust and one of anxiety.

At the same time, across the city there was a young woman participating in a college extra curriculum. Oddly enough, it was a knitting and crochet club. She was the only first year there and they were all trying to pick a project to do for a benefit coming up. She felt her idea was the best but everyone said that it wouldn't make them any money and to just let the pros take care of the deciding while she would help with actually making it.

She felt dismissed. She was angry. She wanted to be the boss. She was better than any of these people around her but her small voice and stature made her a door mat. Bitterness settled into her heart, the type that smells so sweet to an akuma.

X

The second she was done with the lace a large boom shook the whole school and her pencil made a huge mark through her design. She grumbled internally while all others turned to panic as a loud roar rattled the windows.

Full blown panic ensued and all the students and the teachers went running.

Marinette, used to this by now, grabbed her notebook and ran out the class to her locker. She out away her notebook as fast as possible and started to run towards an abandoned utility closet. Halfway there, she passed Adrien. For a moment time slowed and their eyes met, a thousand questions in their eyes. Where were they going? Why didn't they look scared? Would they be in a safe place? But there wasn't time. They both yelled at the other to run and they went in opposite directions, Marinette in the utility closet in seconds.

"Tiki, let's go! Spots on!"

A white and pink glow came from the closet and she cracked the door a few moments later. Once the coast was clear she ran out and left the school from a second-story window, no one paying any attention.

As red and black blurs skittered the roof tops, Ladybug and Chat Noir met in the middle, seeing the plaza of people run for lives as a huge akumatized monster made of yarn shrieked in anger. It was as tall as a building and strings of blue and green were everywhere, an ugly tangled mess.

"Well, that's interesting." Chat said with a smile on his face.

"Are you gonna defeat it or collect as a toy?" Ladybug said with a laugh.

"If I'm going play with a ball of yarn, it certainly won't look like that."

"Hey, at least it's colors cats can see." She smiled and looked around for a entry point. Coming up with nothing she shook her head.

"I can find a weak spot from here."

"Then I guess we'll just have to get up close and purr-sonal." He said with a laugh and they both jumped towards the plaza.


End file.
